BUSINESS: 381 PRACTICES
The mining company HELLAS GOLD SA was established in December 2003 with aiming to: Operate mines of all kinds, processing and marketing of minerals, establish and operate metalworking operations for vertical integration of production in Halkidiki.
SIMS stands for Sustainability Integrated Management System and is the innovative, Integrated Management System for Sustainable Operation and Business Development of Hellas Gold.
The main objectives of SIMS are regulatory compliance, compliance with Eldorado standards and voluntary company commitments, responsible risk management, business continuity and continuous improvement.
The purpose of SIMS is to avoid any overlap with existing Sustainability management systems, as well as with other corporate commitments, thus more efficiently and effectively coordinating these systems into a common strategic corporate framework, through a set of sustainability standards.
SIMS in essence is a system created by us, for us, and developed with the cooperation of all colleagues from all construction sites and functional departments of our company. It is addressed to all employees and has been the cornerstone of all our operations since the beginning of 2021, both at a strategic level and at the level of individual operations and departments.
With SIMS, sustainable operation and development become everyone's business. It will go from theory to practice, governing every step of our activity. SIMS is about us all and we will realize our own role within it.
SIMS, however, is not only about the company's internal audience but also its stakeholders, such as investors, lenders, suppliers, local society, local government, central government, etc., who are interested in and monitor issues of viability, sustainability, and responsible industrial production at all levels.
2020 - throughout the operation
SIMS includes general standards that can be applied to all Sustainability functions included in this framework (GS), and specific standards for occupational health and safety (OHS), environmental performance (EP), social performance (SP) and security (SS). SIMS standards are designed to be completely understandable, executable, and measurable.
SIMS standards apply to all phases of the mine life cycle from asset acquisition and geological survey, engineering, and testing, to operation, mine closure and the post-closure period. SIMS is designed to cover all aspects and activities that potentially affect the sustainability of our construction sites and the communities in which we operate. In addition, it facilitates the effective management of these risks and activates the responsibility for the adoption and implementation of sustainable behaviors and practices by all employees at all levels of the organization.
SIMS standards are compliant and incorporate many of the internationally recognized systems and standards, allowing construction sites to follow a path of assurance and verification, including the principles of the UN Global Compact principles, the responsible mining principles of the World Gold Council and the management systems of the International Standards
Organization. SIMS expressly incorporates the protocols of the Mining Association of Canada's Toward Sustainable Mining Commitment and the International Cyanide Management Institute's management principles.
SIMS standards represent the minimum expected level of performance that all company sites are expected to meet. Where local law or regulation exceeds the requirements of these standards, the site is expected to meet these more stringent requirements. These performance standards will be systematically assessed and revised accordingly to ensure that Eldorado continually maintains an optimal Sustainability program.
In the present phase, the system includes on one hand the above-mentioned general standards, and on the other hand the individual standards for safety & health, environmental management, social performance, and facility security. However, the system is designed in such a way that it can be expanded in the future, through the integration of additional functional areas, departments, or processes.
At the same time, the implementation program of the SIMS system includes educational initiatives by the SIMS ambassadors (SIMS Champions), systematic evaluation and subsequent revision of the above standards, to maintain and optimize the organization's sustainability program.
In this context, work is underway to develop and implement a system communication strategy, compliance audit and gap analysis at each site, as well as the development of key performance indicators (KPIs).
At Hellas Gold we believe that self-improvement is a never-ending process. We can – and must – keep getting better, so this is the first of many versions of SIMS to come. Over time, we will go beyond what we currently think is possible, applying even stricter, more appropriate, and up-to-date standards, setting the bar higher and higher. This is how we will prove – primarily to ourselves – that Sustainability is the raw material in every step we take.
Below are summarized the main benefits for the public/Human Resources of our company from the implementation of SIMS until today:
In this way, all the company's operations become measurable and possible exclusions from the sustainability goals are recorded in each department of Hellas Gold.
SIMS applies to all Hellas Gold' facilities, to all its mining projects and administrative facilities.
SIMS addresses all company employees and requires their active involvement. For this reason, we chose a special logo and a slogan to make it easily understood by all colleagues that it refers to sustainability issues and to emphasize the importance the company attaches to these issues. The logo is used in all sustainability-related documents, such as reports, policies, and websites, as well as in related inter-company communications.
We then created a special page on our company's Intranet, where we posted the SIMS manual to be accessible to all staff, as well as testimonials from our people from their sustainability experiences.
Finally, various types of training are planned (such as teleconferences, briefings at the beginning of the shift, posters and announcements) in order to convey the message to all employees, at all levels of the company, as the role of the staff is pivotal for the correct application of the standards and in the self-assessment and control stages that follow.
Throughout 2021, we will work together, with the help of SIMS, to explore and improve aspects of our business and practices that need improvement.
The main benefits for our business from the implementation of SIMS until today are summarized below:
In practice, SIMS functions as a business sustainability scorecard that guides all business departments in achieving sustainable development goals.
Already in the first year of its use, the strengths and weaknesses of each department have been highlighted, helping the heads of these departments to focus on specific processes. In addition, by describing the management systems, it helps to better understand the sustainability goals within Hellas Gold.
